Fred Ray Croney, age 88, of Atlanta passed away Saturday, August 17, 2019. His wife of 63 years, Margie, survives him. He was born in Fayetteville, TN February 3, 1931. After serving in the U.S. Army Signal Corps, he worked for the FBI in Washington D.C. He joined Southern Bell in 1960 where he had a very rewarding career in Information Technology. Throughout his career at BellSouth he met and worked with so many people that he admired and continued to call friends long after his retirement in 1985. He is survived by his wife Margie; his son Mark and wife Kim, Lawrenceville; three grandchildren James Croney, Maggie McDaniel and husband Shaun; Chad Dial and wife Meredith; three great grandchildren Finley McDaniel, Myatt Dial, and Beau McDaniel. He will be greatly missed by his family, friends and all who knew him. Visitation will be Thursday morning, August 22, 2019 from 9:00 AM until 10:30 AM at Wages and Son’s funeral home located at 1031 Lawrenceville Hwy, Lawrenceville, GA 30046. He will be laid to rest at Georgia National Cemetery, 1080 Scott Hudgens Dr, Canton, GA 30114, with service and military honors that same day at 1:30PM. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Alzheimer’s Foundation.

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5 guestbook entries

Charlotte Leathers
Aug 18, 2019 @
19:46:11

If there is one person I can say that had the most positive influence on my career, next to my dad, it would be Fred Croney. There are so many good people I worked with at Southern Bell / Bellsouth, but Fred stands out above them all. His work ethic, common sense approach, and consistency served me well at Bellsouth and beyond. Thank you Fred. You and Margie both have been a treasure in my life.

The best 10 years of my 43 year career with Southern Bell/BellSouth/AT&T (1975-1985) was working for Fred Croney. Fred was a brilliant technician that encouraged and inspired all those that worked for to be innovative and to give their best. The incredible results delivered by the Southern Bell Division he led speaks for itself. I loved the man and I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to work for him. I learned so much from him that I used throughout my career. Thank you Fred. Rest In Peace.

It is with heartfelt grief I write this to the Croney family. I worked for Fred and with Mark during my tenure at the phone company, and both were stellar people. We all know there is an end date to life on Earth, and we all hope for long ones filled with many experiences for our friends and family to remember fondly. Fred had a long life, but that only makes a small difference in loved ones pain and grief right at the time loss.

Memories and stories will help ease pain over time, and I hope I can begin to convey the influence Fred had in shaping my young working personality with one. I was pretty cocky coming out of college with a computer degree in the ’70’s. I had only seen one older computer than an RCA 3301 in very early school days, and none with a 6 bit byte. At first, I was shocked that this was how Southern Bell was able to produce my phone bill, handle new service orders, keep engineering records, maintain financials, and pay people- all on these relics held together with band-aids. And several of those band-aids were applied by me at 0 dark thirty. What I came to realize was that the people behind making these relics run were some pretty smart folks, and that the overall cost of computing at our Bell company couldn’t be beat. Thus, every little picture is part of a bigger one, and not many people were intimate with details and interactions as the picture grew in complexity like Fred was. I hope I acquired my current grasp on how large systems work from Fred’s example, and that I’m using my experience and insight to try to make a bit of the world a better place.

Thank you Fred. Wish I could have attended more of the first Thursday lunches recollecting stories to help out now.
V1 0219 (to heaven)

So sorry to hear the news. Sending thoughts and prayers to the family. I remember Fred as one of the brightest and most personable and caring leaders that I have ever had the pleasure of working for. He will be missed.

Fred and Margie have been my next door neighbors for almost 7 years. They are wonderful people who always took and interest in me, my kids and their friends. When I moved in, I was recovering from a very painful divorce and Fred and Margie welcomed us with open arms. Their warmth really helped me out in those early times and it has been a pleasure getting to know both of them. Fred was good with advice about household, family, and work. All of us here at “The Orchards” will miss seeing Fred out in the yard or garden, always willing to stop and catch up on the latest news. I will miss his smiling face and his humor. We hope to keep up both sides of our common landscaping area and will remember you fondly every time we look at it.